Reviews

These socks were comfortable for about 25 miles of…

These socks were comfortable for about 25 miles of hiking. Then the two layers of material started moving independently, causing the outer layer to bunch up in the heel. Needless to say, this is undesirable and could lead to blisters.

Pros

Comfortable (until the materials separate)

Breathable

Cons

Dual layers separated & bunched up

Expensive

I bought a pair of these socks to try as a "liner" sock under a thicker pair of "Experia" Thorlo-cushioned socks when wearing Vasque Scree 2.0 low-cut hiking shoes. I bought them for possible use on a John Muir Trail through-hike.

I used these (WrightSocks) for one trip to test my gear for the JMT trip. This trip was approximately 40 miles in length (18% of the JMT distance including the exit trail from the JMT). At approximately 25 miles into the trip, while removing my shoes/socks for a water crossing, I noticed that the dual layers of "Coolmesh II" were separating. At first I wasn't too concerned — maybe this was "by design" — to achieve WrightSocks' claim of "No Blisters Guaranteed".

But then I noticed that not only were the layers separating, but the outer layer was starting to bunch up. Although it doesn't show in the picture below (following a fresh laundering), it was pretty much impossible to flatten the material once it started bunching up. It seemed like it stretched out, so it wasn't possible (prior to the laundering) to get it back into the right shape. What you can see in the photo is the separation of the layers (note the second layer sticking out the top of the sock).

Fortunately this didn't lead to blisters ... though I wasn't about to take a chance on this bunching up of the socks on my much longer upcoming JMT trip.

WrightSock indicates a "money back or sock replacement guarantee" which I intend to utilize. I don't want replacement socks if they'll do the same thing. At $11 for a single pair of low-cut socks (which, quite frankly, I consider outrageous!), I expected better. Much better.

The one thing I will note is that REI lists these in their section on "running socks". But nowhere on the package did I see anything saying they could only be used for running. It's possible that my use case was different than that for which these socks were intended. But I'm still dissatisfied, as I have no reason to believe they would have performed any differently if I'd been running instead of hiking.